King Of The Hill Movie
Storyline
TAGLINES
When the world turns upside down, the trick is coming out on top.
Depression era movie. The protagonist is a little boy whose mother is forced into a sanitarium and father gets a job as a traveling salesman. The boy fends for himself in a seedy SRO hotel. The focus is on the boy's relationships with others and his struggle to survive.
| Jesse Bradford | Aaron |
| Jeroen Krabbé | Mr. Kurlander |
| Lisa Eichhorn | Mrs. Kurlander |
| Karen Allen | Miss Mathey |
| Spalding Gray | Mr. Mungo |
| Elizabeth McGovern | Lydia |
| Cameron Boyd | Sullivan |
| Adrien Brody | Lester |
| Joe Chrest | Ben |
| John McConnell | Patrolman Burns |
| Amber Benson | Ella McShane |
| Kristin Griffith | Mrs. McShane |
| Chris Samples | Billy Thompson |
| Peggy Freisen | Mrs. Thompson |
| Katherine Heigl | Christina Sebastian |
| Steven Soderbergh |
7.50 out of 10 (2662 votes)
Visitor Reviews
Very good film....
posted on 04 Feb 2009I watch this movie, whenever it is on cable. Jessie Bradford is excellent, and you never doubt his sincerity for a moment.I thought that the little brother was terrible, though...and I was kind of glad to see him go. I was disappointed when he returned.(I read in an earlier submission that someone said the mother was mentally unstable. that's just not so. She went to a Sanatorium, for her tuberculosis. I had to clear that up) Not a fan of Adrien Brody, but he played a good part, and his character was likable.**Here be spoilers** (kinda) One of the best moments in the film, for me, was when the Cop almost got killed by the produce truck, and the child he was harassing, stole some fruit and ran. I couldn't stop laughing.I would recommend this film highly.
Beating Depression in St. Louis
posted on 29 Jan 2009I enjoyed this movie more than I thought I would. This is an evocative tale of life before food banks and the welfare system. Watching the young protagonist pretend he enjoyed eating his "delicious" cut-from-a-magazine food was pretty poignant. The performances put in by the young actors are believable without being too sappy. Jesse Bradford is charming. Also worth seeing is Adrien Brody. He sparkles with a to-the-gut vitality. But in the end it is the kid's grit and determination that holds this movie together. His pride in himself and his dogged pursuit of his creativity, integrity and ingenuity makes this movie worth seeing. A great scene to be on the look out for is when the beautiful gum-snapping elevator girl gives the young Aaron a graduation gift. In addition, I especially enjoyed John McConnell's performance as the mean "Big Butt" cop. I'm pretty sure he was also in the recent Ladykillers with Tom Hanks. He's fun to watch.
Fine film
posted on 23 Jan 2009"King of the Hill" is a great film. The acting is brilliant. Jesse Bradford is a stand out and it's one of those performances where you're awed by the fact that someone that young can be such a fantastic actor (like with Haley Joel Osment in "The Sixth Sense" and Eamonn Owens in "The Butcher Boy"). It's also interesting to see Adrien Brody in an early role as I just noticed him a few weeks ago when I saw "Summer of Sam". The film itself is also a very interesting and touching drama. Bravo Soderbergh! (7/10)
I'll have the filet of sole, please.
posted on 22 Oct 2008This is a vivid portrait of Aaron Kurlander, a resourceful (some would say mercenary) adolescent growing up in the Depression who has to fend for himself when the chips are down -- and they are very rarely up. First his little brother is sent to live with relatives. Then his mother has to go into a sanitarium. Finally his father goes away to sell watches. You might expect this kind of story to turn maudlin, but writer/director Steven Soderbergh deals with it with an even hand, allowing us to get involved in Aaron's plight without sentimentalizing it.Aaron is played with great spunk and imagination by Jesse Bradford, and he has considerable support from the likes of Jeroen Krabbe (who also appeared in Soderbergh's "Kafka"), Lisa Eichhorn, Karen Allen, Spalding Gray, Elizabeth McGovern and a young Adrien Brody. Special mention should also made of Soderbergh regular Joseph Chrest, perfectly cast as malevolent hotel porter Ben.This is definitely one that is worth tracking down. And one hopes it will eventually get the DVD release it so richly deserves.
Enthusiastic recommendation
posted on 27 Jun 2008I have and do recommend this film to many. Offering a look into the most tender, vulnerable and heartbreaking moments of a family greatly suffering during the depression of the 1930's, a young boy is pressed into service as the emotional champion of his family. His becoming a man is not trivially compared to the childhood game so many of us have played; he plays for his life. The power of this young man's courage will reach even the most cynical.No tear-jerker, but poignant; tears will likely flow. This film will definitely be on my shelf as soon as it is available. I have been waiting since 1993.
Hauntingly beautiful drama
posted on 23 Jan 2008Saw this years ago in 1994, but I still remember vividly the musicalscore, especially at that searing moment when Jeroen Krabbe gets intohis car, talks to his son on the street and tells him a story. Themusic soars as the boy's eyes widen, realizing his father's not comingback, because the story being told is far too affectionate not to meanhis dad's about to leave. I remember the shots exactly, and these kindof moments are why I love film.
Steven, stop making crime thrillers for a little while. Get back towhat you were looking for in this movie. We could use a little more ofit.
Great Film
posted on 27 Dec 2007I first rented King Of The Hill (1993) back in 1994 and was delightfully surprised at the great quality of the film. First off I am not a fan of Steven Soderbergh and only slightly liked Sex Lies and Videotope. I always seem to rent and see his movies though, hoping that he could return to the form of moviemaking that made this movie. But apparently that is not the case. I don't know how he did it but this is a great film and should be seen by a large audiance. The acting, Writing, direction, and cinemetography are all top notch in this story about a boy making his way through the depression era 1930's. Jessie Bradford turns in an excellent performance as Aaron Kurlander the kid who has to keep his wits at all times. The casting of this film was excellent and even includes a great early performance by Adrien Brody who plays young Aaron's suregate big brother that lives down the hall. A true can't miss for anyone that likes fine cinema.
Spielberg eat your heart out, this is a real feel good movie
posted on 29 Aug 2007Not to be confused with that T.V. show thing. King of the Hill is one of the most vivid film experiences I remember as a child. No, I wasn't lucky enough to catch it on the big screen. Instead I rented it and watched it one night and was totally absorbed into it. Jesse Bradford, despite his current film career, did a damn fine job as Aaron Kurlander, a young boy struggling to survive during the Great Depression. He uses his wits and imagination to make the best out of the worst of times. Bradford was 12 or 13 years old at the time he filmed the movie and as an actor it must've been a heavy burden. The main focus is on him as its his story and shown from his point of view. Bradford doesn't let the ball drop once and more than carries his weight. It's another one of those rare great child performances. Jeroen Krabbé plays Aaron's (Bradford) father who is a struggling traveling salesman. Lisa Eichhorn plays his mentally unstable mother who goes in and out of various institutions. Rounding out the cast of the interesting people that fill Aaron's life are Karen Allen as the warm and understanding school teacher, Cameron Boyd his younger brother, Adrien Brody as the "cool" big brother figure, John McConnell as the fat and troublesome patrol cop, Elizabeth McGovern as a prostitute working in the same hotel Aaron lives at, and Spalding Gray as her creepy, manipulative, and suicidal pimp. So yes the film is filled to the brim with worth while supporting players adding so much depth and dimension to Aaron's world.Soderbergh had double duty as writer and director. He scripted the novel by A.E. Hotchner and I think it's his best film. As I mentioned it takes place during the Great Depression in St. Louis Missouri. Watching Aaron fight for survival is one of the best charms of the film. It's done realistically. The audience is able to believe his methods. There's a nice mix of drama, dark somber humor and dire situations, but there's also enough humanity and hope in the movie to send an uplifting message. For those who enjoy Andy Dufresne's message of hope and persaverence in the more widely known The Shawshank Redemption, seek out this film. I would argue it's even superior to Frank Darabont's movie. It's one of the great and underrated modern films and ranks with the best using the Great Depression setting. Sadly King of the Hill isn't released yet on DVD and it's not very likely that you'll be able to find it at your local video store. Especially if all you have is the local communist Blockbuster near you. Anyway, King of the Hill should be regarded and known far more highly than what it is. It's a sin for a movie this great to not get its due. Grade: A+
Shattering and unforgettable
posted on 02 Aug 2007Soderbergh delivers a heartfelt story that is both entertaining and compelling, without getting too overly sentimental, but moving and inspiring nevertheless. The impeccable cast includes a smashing young Jesse Bradford and a very appealing Adrien Brody in an early role. A definite must.
Underrated Film with an Underrated Performance by the Underrated Joseph Chrest
posted on 06 Jun 2007This is a magnificent example of Soderbergh at his best. Not Soderbergh the deconstructionist or Soderbergh the hipster/geek auteur, but Soderbergh the storyteller. Definitely the best work of his career so far.The film is full of stunningly poignant moments. From the father's conversation in the car to the little brother's fart joke that signifies that the children are free to be children again, this is the rare unsentimental movie that can nonetheless reduce grown men to tears.The greatest thing about this film, though is the towering performance of Soderbergh regular Joseph Chrest as the demented Bellhop. Between this, "The Underneath," "Out of Sight," "Erin Brockovich," and his appearances in some of Chris Carter's more memorable television experiments, Chrest has proven himself to be a yeoman character actor along the lines of Philip Seymour Hoffman or John C. Reilly.Would someone like P.T. Anderson, David Lynch, The Coen Brothers, or even you yourself, Mr. Soderbergh, please give this quirky genius more screen time and make him the star he deserves to be already? Please?
Neglected Little Gem
posted on 28 Apr 2007This is a beautiful movie about an enterprising young man who survives various hardships during the depression. It has a bitter edge but isn't excessive and brings back tales of my grandmother's of how her family coped during the depression. My grandmother's parents were far more functional than the frail ill mother and the traveling salesman father who basically abandons his child to work out of state. I agree with other comments it hardly seems American because it is so deep without smashing the hammer down on our heads. Even though it is harsh I think it is suitable for older children if nothing more than an abject lesson about how real and difficult life really was. The irony is that America still exists to a lesser degree we just don't see it in the movies or on TV.
All is not as it seems.
posted on 22 Apr 2007The film that continued Soderbergh's exile from the mainstream between SEX, LIES AND VIDEOTAPE and OUT OF SIGHT, this is a puzzlingly underrated gem that combines the considerable pleasures of the well-crafted rites-of-passage film with a simultaneous deconstruction of signs and modes of representation. Conventionally, the rites-of-passage concerns the traumas and awakenings of a seemingly isolated young individual as he or she takes his or her place in ordered society. KING OF THE HILL follows the opposite movement, the existential journey of a family son to an awareness of his own solitude.Like most rites-of-passages, this movie offers an episodic narrative over a single plot. 1933: Aaron Kurlander is a bright and imaginative pupil at a public school for rich kids. His once wealthy parents suffered during the Depression, and now live in a dismal hotel where bellboys in the banks' pocket skulk in corridors waiting to throw out those who can't afford to pay their rent. Aaron lies about his social position to save face, but his father is a failed candle salesman, and his mother is a consumptive, and they must send Aaron's little brother to stay with a remote uncle.Increasingly deserted by his family - his mother goes to a sanitarium, his father gets a job as a travelling watch salesman in distant States - and neighbours - who are being thrown out of their rooms - Aaron is forced to live by his wits, helped only by an older friend, Lester, a petty criminal.
He goes through the usual adolescent adventures - taunting policemen, driving an out-of-control car, conducting a tentative relationship with a strange, epileptic girl - and tests of masculine courage (in rites such as marbles), but these only serve to alienate him further from his peers. His only remaining neighbour is a formerly wealthy businessman turned pimp, trying to keep an air of resigned gentility. One day Aaron gets a note saying that his father has three days to pay their rent or they must leave.The evocation of the period certainly seems painstakingly accurate - the houses, avenues, alleys, hotels, schools, clothes, cars, street stalls; the air of despondancy and lack of hope; the marbles and crackling radios; the kind of poverty that forced some people to dress in their underwear; the remnants of gangster/bootlegger culture; the American need for mythology.
This is compounded by the gorgeous sepia-tinged cinematography, evoking many of the familiar ways the America of this period is constructed in the collective memory. The year 1933 is also the year Hitler became Chancellor in Germany, and although the fact isn't explicitely mentioned, there is a tacit critique of an American society of ominous paralells: anti-Semitism; racist, fascist policemen; repellent WASPs, whose snobbery goes into collective, nightmarish action against the upstart outsider. There are two very powerful images that evoke the camps that will feature in Germany over the next decade - the gaunt artist, Mr. Sandoz, forced out of his apartment into a makeshift settlement, dressed like an emaciated prisoner; the Jewish Lester being carted off by the police for bootlegging, saying goodbye to Aaron as if he'll never see him again.All of these elements seem to fix KING firmly in time, except for one thing - the style. If you weren't told you were watching a film from early 1930s America, you wouldn't know it. Whatever the horrors displayed on screen, the camera retains a dignified distance, with slowly elegant movements, opening and recording space like it's an Antonioni film. The beauty of the photography, the perpetual sunlight, the charming music, the set design that makes a shabby armchair and a suburban mansion equally attractive are completely at odds with the story that is being told. Although the story is about a boy who is cut off from his family, partakes in risky adventures, undergoes demeaning social experiences and eventually begins to starve, the film doesn't vary its point of view or style to accomodate his mindset, always keeping the same steady distance.This might sound simply like bad filmmaking, but it's not. Soderbergh's main interest is in how we represent history, how we construct our images of it. This disparity between form and content forces us to question our responses to the latter. How is it possible to make a pretty picture about the Depression? Throughout the film signs are foregrounded and interrogated (eg billboards, the chessboard floor of the hotel, the discussion in the lift about different types of letters); the difference between how we experience reality and how society chooses to depict it. This is brought most terrifyingly home when Aaron can't afford any food, has no-one to turn to, and is forced to cut out pictures from a magazine and arrange them on a plate. This is also probably why the ending feels so ridiculous and forced - an impossible deus ex machina which weaves together a number of disparate crises into an ideal whole. Only moments earlier, the film had finally begun to break its distance and show Aaron's mind in all its nightmarish terror. How reliable is this ending? Isn't it another example of the American inability to face genuine misery head-on without some kind of preposterous redemption? Isn't American history simply a narrative of evasion?
Sumptuous period coming-of-age melodrama
posted on 20 Mar 2007Beautifully shot and played, this tale of a young boy coping with the depression better than his father (who has left him alone in seek of work) trips along nicely, detailing the superkid's adventures in thirties America in rich colours and lavish period detail. Although it could be accused of overdoing the rose-tinted spectacles, it's a warm and mellow look at a dark and grimy time, and includes enough unpleasantness to keep that fact in the viewer's mind. Although the hotel-dwelling salesman living on the edge of subsistence is not a new theme, any more than that of the capable child flourishing in adversity, Soderberg brings a timeless quality and a steady, gentle mood to this piece, making it more about the hearts of the people than the tragic times which are displayed. Jesse Bradford, as the central child, and Adrien Brody as his older friend, really shine. Nice.
Good but not great
posted on 07 Aug 2006Good film by Soderbergh about life in Saint-Louis in 1933, during the Great Depression. It's interesting because we see it through the eyes of a 12 years old, played by Jesse Bradford. Some parts of the films are very emotional and touching, other are just plain Disney-like. The photography is good.Out of 100, I gave it 76.
Unbelievably well-crafted drama. Touching, and not maudlin.
posted on 26 Jul 2006This movie communicates so much emotion with interesting shots, and lets the characters reveal themselves through actions. There is no speech-making in this film. It is pure story-telling, and that's why it is so touching and affecting. THis film has a 'real' feeling that most dramas never even come close to achieving. There is absolutely none of the maudlin sappiness that other movies use to cheaply manipulate. I can watch this movie over, and over again, and it only proves what a talented filmmaker Stephen Soderbergh is.
Soderbergh's usual technical mastery, but more heart
posted on 08 Jun 2006As Soderbergh has risen to the stratosphere of Hollywood enablers, he seems to have replaced character with something else -- odd collections of in-jokes, hand ringing and Oscar-worthy speeches. If he's connected with the pulse of America, he has done so by losing the pulse of his stories. Even his small anti-commercial films seem to have lost their human touch. Oh, they're fun, and technically masterful all -- but looking back only this one suggests the small Satyajit Ray style humanist Soderburgh might have become if he didn't have the mega-hit touch. A part of me mourns the loss, though another part of me imagines how horribly treakly Erin Brockovich would have been with any other helmer. I've spent a lot of good hours watching his works, but only a couple great hours, and this 1 hour and 43 minutes of greatness
Really enjoyable
posted on 09 Apr 2006Everything works with this one. Really interesting and heart-rending story, great characters, fine sets, lighting, costumes, music, excellent acting.Someone compared this to The Pianist and I see what he means. It reminds me of a movie like Paper Moon, but whereas I disliked the Tatum O'Neal character (stealing from those who could not afford to lose the money), I really like this boy. I also think the pangs of missing family, what it's like to be a child, are more realistically done in this movie than in Paper Moon.I really can't imagine anyone who wouldn't like this - it's very mainstream, very good - and in contrast to those who say this reminds them of some European movie, I would say it's as American as apple pie.I highly recommend it. (It also helps that Lisa Eichorn is my favorite living actress - and Karen Allen would be in the top ten).
One of my favourite movies of all-time
posted on 19 Dec 2005This is one of those movies that stays with you forever. The main character is young Aaron Kurlander who lives with his mother,father, and little brother in a small apartment set during the 30's in America during the Depression era. The family wants to save money, they are a poor family, so Aaron's little brother is sent away to relatives. His mother gets sick and is send to a sanatarium. And then his father who until then is an unsuccessful business man, is then offered a job away from home and takes it, which leaves young Aaron to fend for himself. Being at such a young age and not well-equipped to take the outside world on by himself, Aaron somehow manages too anyway.
Dramatic Film About the Great Depression
posted on 02 May 2005Finsihed this film is film study class, and I have to say, it was impressive. I had my doubts, but this was an awesome, yet very dramatic movie ever to come out. This shows what the depression was really like.The protagonist is Aaron, a young boy in 1933 Midwest, who deals with everyday life, until his parents leave for an expedition, and things happen while he is away.The film-making is excellent, and yet the mood and music of the film is dramatic and really depicts that terrifying time. The scene where Aaron is in the car was a good action scene. Some scenes are pretty heartbreaking as well.Overall, an 8.6 out of 10. It's a gritty and dramatic film.
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Lovely hidden gem
posted on 09 Mar 2009Steven Soderbergh is a talented, experimental, sometimes avant-garde filmmaker that doesn't make jokey movies (the Coen Brothers) or gimmicky ones (Christopher Nolan) or Tarantino ones. In even his more mainstream movies, he's distinguished. He's one of the few (relatively) young directors that makes "real" movies (not to knock the "fake" ones) about a wide array of subjects. He doesn't need to be cool or ambiguous all the time.Set in St. Louis in 1933, "King of the Hill" is like a light kids version of "The Pianist" (it's even got Adrien Brody!). The film centers around the 12 year-old Aaron Kurlander, and his family -- his mother, father, and younger brother, Sullivan. The Depression is in full force, and Aaron's parents have come to the agreement that the only way to save money and be able to continue raising their two sons is to have young Sullivan shipped off on a Greyhound bus to live with his uncle. Soon thereafter, Aaron's mother is taken out of the picture when she has to go for a stay at a sanitarium. The family lives in a hotel run by a bank, and Aaron's father isn't paying the bills; soon he's out of the picture when he goes off looking for work, leaving Aaron on his own to fend for himself.He makes friends with a rich nerdy kid at school when he rescues him from some school marble bullies, and comes up with schemes of how to make money, like having canary's mate, since a newborn will fetch three dollars. He spins tall tales in order to get by at school, like telling his teacher that his parents work for the government. His hunky, older pal also living in the hotel, Lester (Adrien Brody) helps him about; in one incident they end up stealing Aaron's father's car, and with Aaron too small to be able to reach the brake pedal, he ends up going on a scary trip around town.When one girl from school invites him over for supper, he gets caught in his own web of deceit when the school kids, at an after-graduation party where Aaron wins a special prize, hear different stories about what his parents really are. (Government workers, archaeologists, pilots.) At the same party, he's exposed for what (they think) he is: a poor kid and a teacher's pet.He befriends a gawky girl in his hotel with a crush on him when she invites him over for hot dogs and dancing, but ends up having some sort of fit on the floor. (Epileptic seizure?)The cop out in the street is just looking to bust some young punk kid, and the hotel bellhop is just waiting for Aaron to slip up, so he can lock him out of his room. (Look fast for Lauryn Hill as the hotel elevator operator!)The movie looks great, both in the set deco and the juicy, round cinematography. The music is a plus, and nearly all the performances are first-rate. Jesse Bradford, with his big, expressive eyes, is just terrific as Aaron. He's got an ultra-pleasant face to watch, and his acting is totally fresh, without any hint of affectation. (Unlike his father's strange accent.)"King of the Hill" is a lovely, great-looking period piece. A sometimes heartwarming, sometimes heartbreaking dramedy without any pretensions to be anything other than a good little gem of a movie. And that it is.****